Author: Fire Head (炎頭)

Translator: Hand of Vecna

Editors: TpstT, Keii

? “I’m naturally on the team searching for a way to reincarnate. Nothing would get done without me…and there’s another thing that worries me.”

This was what Pollux said when they were splitting up into teams. Ruphas didn’t particularly care at that time, but Pollux considered it to be something that must be investigated urgently. That was because, depending on the situation, she believed that it could potentially cause the plans Ruphas had made two hundred years ago to completely fall apart.

The fairies’ village, Alfheim.

Once they returned here, Pollux distanced herself from the others for a while before she started talking about the avatars. When Ruphas was still present, multiple heroic spirits had been summoned to support everyone…They included Phoenix, Hydrus, the Three Winged Knights and her. At that time, she had read the atmosphere and quickly left the locationSee for the two heroic spirits who flew away when Ruphas was on the Argo.. Thus, by now, she should already be in the fairies’ village.

Slightly away from the others, there was a young figure leaning against a tree as if she had been waiting for Pollux. Her braided hair was green. Dressed in a white robe, she appeared to be about twelve years old. She smiled when she noticed Pollux.

“It’s been a long time since we last met, Pollux.”

“Yes, it has been a while…Parthenos.”

She was Parthenos, the previous Maiden. A year ago, she had reached her natural lifespan, but now she was here as if she was in her prime. She looked like a young girl, but her actual age was more than two hundred years old, which was exceptional for a human. She wasn’t just an old woman; she was practically a fossil.

Argonautai would summon heroes as they were in their primes, so she had been summoned as she was two hundred years ago when the Twelve Stars were in their glory days. Of course, Pollux could have summoned her as an old woman, but she wouldn’t have done that since she was a woman herself.

“So, what is it that you want? I’m glad to have a young body again after such a long time, but I still have to watch over the seal of the ouroboros. I’d like to return to my former location, if it’s possible.”

“I have something to ask about the seal of the ouroboros.”

Pollux narrowed her eyes and stared sharply at Parthenos.

“Hey, Parthenos. Why did you…let the avatar of the G.o.ddess pa.s.s?”

“…Oh, so there was something like that mixed in with the group back then. That was a blunder…”

“Stop pretending. If it’s Ruphas-sama, you might be able to smoke your way through, but it won’t work for me. Don’t look down on me.”

The thing that Pollux wanted to check was why Dina had been allowed to pa.s.s through the barrier of Parthenos when Ruphas and the others visited Vanaheim. Ruphas had previously thought, “Parthenos used to be the guardian of the G.o.ddess’ Sanctuary, so as an ent.i.ty similar to the G.o.ddess, Dina could have simply pa.s.sed through.”

But that was strange, way too strange. This was because the ouroboroses were proxies of the G.o.ddess, so there were seals to prevent this from happening. If an ent.i.ty similar to the G.o.ddess was able to pa.s.s through, there would be no point in the barrier.

In other words, Dina was able to pa.s.s through, but not for the reason Ruphas believed…It was because Parthenos knowingly let her through.

“Another thing. You’re the Manager of the G.o.ddess-sama’s Sanctuary. It’s impossible for you not to know the face of the G.o.ddess-sama. Even if she somehow pa.s.sed through by mistake…or even if she somehow bypa.s.sed the barrier, when you saw her, you must have figured out her ident.i.ty.”

“……”

“Answer me, Parthenos.”

Neither excuses nor deceptions would work. Parthenos raised her hands, expressing her intention to surrender. Other people aside, she judged that Pollux alone could not be deceived.

“As expected of you, Pollux. Everything is exactly as you have said. I was aware of her ident.i.ty and deliberately let her through the barrier. But it seems not even you noticed her ‘ident.i.ty that’s behind her ident.i.ty’.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t leak this to anyone else, especially someone who isn’t tight-lipped.”

And Parthenos explained. Why did she let Dina pa.s.s through? Who was Dina and what was she trying to do? And why did Ruphas trust her without reservation? Why was Dina…not recognized as an enemy even after it was discovered that she had been deceiving them?

Yes, it wasn’t merely because Ruphas didn’t think about it or was careless. Ruphas had a reason not to consider her as an enemy. It was just a vague memory buried deep in her psyche that Ruphas recalled subconsciously, but she knew that Dina was not an enemy.

When Pollux heard it, she had an incredulous look, but eventually she became convinced.

“…I see. That certainly makes sense. I thought it was strange…No matter how much of a muscle-brain Ruphas-sama was, she was being played around with too unnaturally. But certainly, if that was the case, I can’t say I’m not convinced.”

“Are you dissatisfied with this?”

“Yes, I’m dissatisfied. I wasn’t told everything. That’s pathetic.”

“It couldn’t be helped. In the worst-case scenario, it’s feared that your memories could be read by the G.o.ddess. The most important information needed to be hidden no matter what.”

“I know. I’m saying it’s pathetic because of that.”

Pollux was ashamed of her own weakness. If it had been the Vampire Princess, even if she was the avatar of an ouroboros, Ruphas would have told her everything. Even on the off chance that the G.o.ddess interfered, her peerless pride rendered her beyond the norms. There was no fear that she would be controlled by the G.o.ddess. There was no need to worry about her memories being read.

But Pollux couldn’t do that. Although she resisted, she was still controlled by the G.o.ddess. She wouldn’t be able to withstand it if the same thing were to happen again in the future.

It was really pathetic and she hated it.

This had nothing to do with her mental status. Even if one had infinite status, they would still be unable to resist the G.o.ddess. It would require a ridiculously strong will that went beyond status. Otherwise, it would be impossible to resist the G.o.ddess.

“So what do I do now? Should I go back?”

“No, wait here just in case. It’ll probably be okay, but we might need your help if something happens.”

“That’s fine, but who’s going to protect the seal?”

“I’ve sent Borealis of the CrownBorealis of the Crown (『冠』のボレアリス) refers to Corona Borealis (literally “northern crown”), a small constellation in the northern hemisphere. to Vanaheim on your behalf, so it’s fine.”

“…You don’t miss a thing.”

Borealis of the Crown was a Level 1000 grappler who was one of Ruphas’ subordinates. There was an anecdote that he was originally the ruler of the largest humanoid empire before the coming of Ruphas. He fell in love with her after losing to her in a duel. When Ruphas founded her own nation, he quickly became her subordinate.

His height was two hundred twenty (centimeters). He was a nice middle-aged man who wore only a cloak over his otherwise naked upper body, making him come across as a pervert. It had been said that if it was restricted to close quarters combat, even Ruphas would struggle against him. To put it simply, he was far better than Parthenos when it came to single combat.

“That’s how it is. You’ll come with us until we meet up again with Ruphas-sama.”

“Hmm, fine. It’s been a long time since I used my power for Ruphas-sama.”

“Yes, then I’ll be counting on you.”

?

“Oh, the Tyrannical Twelve Stars?”

“Formerly. Now, the position has been given to my granddaughter. Currently, I’m just Parthenos.”

Parthenos laughed fearlessly and activated her skill. It was the high-tier priest skill, Double Star. This skill could only be learnt by a Level 100 priest.

Then, Quadruple StarThe skill name was given literally as Fourth Star (フォース・スター)…which seems to suggest that the author doesn’t know the difference between ordinal numerals (second, fourth, etc.) and multiples (double, quadruple, etc.). Since this is a greater version of Double Star, we will be naming it Quadruple Star instead. was activated. This skill required the user to be a Level 200 priest who had already learnt Double Star. It could only be used after activating Double Star. Although this skill created some openings, its effect was tremendous.

Its effect allowed the quadruple use of mid-tier divine magic for a certain period of time.

Parthenos moved her fingers and four pentagram magic circles appeared before her, buffing everyone present.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Photon Weapon, increased the attack power of allies.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Ray Block, increased the physical defense of allies.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Ray Barrier, increased the magical defense of allies.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Photon Field, created an area which would absorb damage dealt to allies.

“Oh, I’m not done yet. Don’t regret not stopping me from buffing later, okay?”

As she said that, she activated the skill again. Seeing this, Sol’s expression changed and he immediately moved to attack. However, he was too late. His complacency made him too slow to react for a move. That extra move was enough for Parthenos to buff another four times.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Regenerate, automatically recovered HP for a certain period of time.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Mana Regenerate, automatically recovered SP for a certain period of time.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Speed of Light, increased the speed of allies by several times.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Aura Burst, increased all statuses of allies. It could be used together with other support skills.

Sol attempted to interrupt Parthenos, but Terra’s blade blocked him from the front. Normally, Sol would win, but their powers were currently comparable. This was possible only with the support of Parthenos.

And there was yet another move. Once again, Parthenos had the time to activate her skill.

“Hey, hey. There’s more? Hurry, hurry!”

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Auto-Resurrection, would automatically revive allies once when their HP reached zero.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Element Reflector, halved the damage of a specific attribute for a certain period of time.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Aura Feather, granted allies the ability to fly using wings of light.

The Sun-attribute divine magic, Ray Force, increased the magic damage dealt by allies.

“Impossible…So fast!?”

While dealing with Terra, Sol was astonished at the speed of Parthenos’ skills.

Certainly, it wasn’t impossible for a high-level caster to use four skills at the same time. However, there would be a slight time lag between each skill activation, and the time required to activate four skills would normally be a few minutes…Even if they were of the same cla.s.s as the Seven Heroes, it would still take a few seconds.

It was impossible to activate everything instantly without any lag.

Quadruple Star was by no means an invincible skill. The more the skill was used, the longer it would take to activate, causing one to lose the initiative. There was also the problem of not being able to use the appropriate skill for an important situation.

Therefore, it was a priest’s common sense to not rely on such a skill and activate the skills normally in order to quickly prioritize the important skills.

This is weird. This woman…has been mixing in some high-tier skills from the start!

But it was precisely because she was Parthenos that she could make this possible.

With the exception of Leon, all the other Tyrannical Twelve Stars had their own unique, cheat-like skills. Parthenos was no exception.

Her unique skill, ZavijavaZavijava (ザヴィヤヴァ), also called Beta Virginis, is the fifth-brightest star in the constellation of Virgo., was by no means flashy when compared to those of the other Twelve Stars. At least, it wasn’t a big skill with a visible impact. However, that didn’t mean that it was weak. When Ruphas was in the game, she had sincerely thought, “Isn’t this broken?”

Its effect was to lift the restriction on high-tier divine magic.

There were many skills which had a restriction on the tier of skills which could be incorporated. This particular skill ignored all these restrictions and allowed the incorporation of high-tier and even highest-tier skills.

It looked plain at first glance, but it was a ridiculously overpowered skill.

This was because priests and sorcerers had skills that decreased SP consumption for arcane magic below a certain tier and reduced cooldown time to zero for divine magic below a certain tier. (However, this normally applied only to low-tier skills, so the main use of Quadruple Star was to fire the lowest-tier skills rapidly and compensate with numbers.)

But Parthenos ignored this. Meta-skills, which could only be applied to low-tier skills, could be applied by her to high-tier skills. And this was the result—a nightmare in which high-tier skills could be used rapidly with no delay!

Certainly, Parthenos was among the weaker members of the Twelve Stars in terms of pure combat power. There was no argument about it.

Ruphas had confirmed her weakness and said, “Her support is awesome, but her combat power is terrible.” But she had also said, “It’d be more than enough to just let her use her skills from the rear.”

Such a support specialist could overturn the difference in combat power just with her very presence. This was the power of the previous Maiden.

After being grazed by Terra’s blade, Sol broke through the frontline and threw a punch at the most dangerous woman present.

But he was careless. Certainly, Parthenos was among the weakest of the Twelve Stars, but she was not as weak as Pollux whose combat power was a mismatch with her level.

At least, she still had the power of a Level 800…If all the buffs were taken into consideration, her arm strength was comparable to the strike of a vanguard.

“Idiot.”

“!”

Parthenos used a log to block Sol’s punch, narrowed her eyes, and laughed. She then started spinning with her right foot without giving her opponent time to recover.

Using centrifugal force, she smashed the log into Sol’s face.

Image from Light Novel Volume 7.

Author’s Notes

Aquarius: “What a cheat!”

Libra: “If this was a game, it’d be banned in the tournament.”

Taurus: “What a foul ability…”

Ruphas: “So broken.”

Benet: “Is it still waiting for a patch?”

Chaos Emperor Dragon (混沌帝龍) and (開闢と終焉の支配者) are cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! Series. None of us have a clue who or what Pet Shop (ペットショップ) is supposed to be…: “Isn’t it good that its effect is strong?”

Chaos End Ruler: “Right. Balance is important.”

Pet Shop: “I didn’t notice that the balance was broken during the test play.”

Translator"s Notes

A WILD LAST BOSS APPEARED!